Confrontation
by Any Unborn Child
Summary: Oneshot. Hints of Ratchet/Knockout. Takes place during "Stronger, Faster". Of course Knockout wasn't going to let him live, not under Megatron's orders.


Confrontation

By Any Unborn Child

"Doctor to doctor, I must say – your contribution to the Decepticon cause is **very** **much appreciated**. I'll be sure to boast of your accomplishment when you're** gone**."

Ratchet heard those words straight from the Decepticon called Knockout himself, when he felt his life-force slip away and the synthetic Energon he had been using pool from underneath him. His processor was in a blur, as he laid there, the urge to move gone and replaced with only guilt and the harbinger of death ringing quite true now. It was incredibly hard to believe - only moments ago he was full of energy and a completely different Autobot. Now he could only just lie there as the incoming notion that his spark was to be extinguished became all too clear for him.

Of course Knockout wasn't going to let him live, not under Megatron's orders, and from what he had heard, the doctor was good at disassembling things, pulling things apart, and having live test subjects cease to exist. Also, Ratchet knew that Knockout enjoyed it immensely, playing the role of a powerful deity and creating things as well as destroying them, and the frightening part was that Ratchet had just like him in that way.

He could see it in his optics, even as he grasped the wound on his chest tightly. He could feel the synth-En that had poisoned his mind between his fingers, dripping down his frame as the Decepticon medic changed his right hand into a whirring, deadly steel circular saw, ready to start his patient's decapitation.

The whirring grew louder and louder as the saw's sharp edges came closer to the older Autobot's face. Ratchet could almost feel the vibrations of the weapon near his neck as Knockout proudly exclaimed, "Which will happen in three – two – one-"

A gargantuan boom abruptly broke Knockout's attention. He stopped, looking slightly puzzled, his saw still spinning in his hand, and looked off to the side to see what the source of the noise was. Under his breath he muttered, "Scrap!"

Wasting no time, Ratchet grabbed the Decepticon's arm, a strained grunt escaping his vocal processor as he promptly kicked Knockout in the chest with his free leg, sending him flying to the other side of the rocky corridor. Before he had time to tend to his wounds however, Knockout swiftly recovered, charging towards Ratchet and pushing him against the wall with all of his might. Ratchet grabbed Knockout's throat with one hand, while trying to force him off with his other hand, the pressure of the Decepticon's strength becoming evident.

Knockout struggled to get his saw near the Autobot's face once again, the buzzing of the weapon increasingly louder with each second of the struggle. Ratchet's grasp on Knockout's throat started to give, which let Knockout's saw graze the side of his face for only a couple of seconds, though it felt much longer. The sound of iron scraping against metal was more than enough for Ratchet to push Knockout's other arm away and bashed his head against the medic's, incapacitating him, if only for a moment. Regaining his focus, Knockout tried to pin Ratchet to the wall once again, his saw at the ready. This time, Ratchet was able to move out of the way in time for Knockout's saw, and thus Knockout himself, to be stuck in the corridor wall. Realizing his quandary, Knockout struggled trying to free himself, his vocal frustration echoed around the passage in an untimely loop.

Ratchet's senses fading, he found the vial of synth-En on the ground almost immediately on the opposite side of the passageway. As carefully as he could, the Autobot looked at the mixture. This was the substance that gave him so much power, so much strength that he never knew he had. And yet it had caused him, his team, and his leader trouble that he knew he had caused. Was this really worth keeping?

Sardonic laughter shattered his thoughts as Ratchet turned to see that it was Knockout who, despite his current position, did not waste a moment to demean.

"What are you going to do, drink it?" Knockout exclaimed, belittling malice in his optics.

Ratchet paused, finally able to gather his thoughts together, finally able to grasp whatever senses he had left. He grasped his right side, which was still leaking Energon. "No. I'm going to destroy it!"

With that, Ratchet threw the vial of synth-En straight at the opposite wall, incredibly close to where Knockout was currently stuck. He watched as the container shattered into an innumerable glass mess. Grasping his side even tighter he thought, _What remains is surely no more now. _

Knockout finally freed himself, stepping back a couple times to ascertain the situation, his optics wide with incredulity.

"You idiot! Megatron will have my head!" He yelled, frustration climbing higher in his voice.

Ratchet's audios didn't grasp Knockout's aggravation – it did not matter to him. All that mattered was that the synth-En was gone, and that it could never be brought back. His balance gave almost immediately, his optics closed as he fell to the ground in a heap, blackness closing into unconsciousness.


End file.
